Bulldog women ready for Jackets

Christi Thomas is a relative neophyte to the Georgia-Georgia Tech rivalry.

But even a neophyte knows how to savor a victory over an archrival.

Today

Ga. Tech

Philips Arena

3 p.m.

102.1-FM

Such was the case last season when the Lady Bulldogs defeated the Yellow Jackets 78-61 at the Cobb Civic Center.

Thomas has been known to flash an infectious smile, and there is no doubt that she couldn't stop smiling after Georgia remained unbeaten in the 23-game series.

The victory meant a little more to Thomas for another reason. Her best friend, Alex Stewart, plays for Georgia Tech.

''Yeah, they have never beaten us, but they have come close, and the better butt kickin' we can give them, the better it is for us,'' Thomas said, smiling. ''It is just one of those things that you can't explain that you want to do well so bad because you want to prove to them that we are the best D-I team in the state.

''Being from Georgia, we know everybody on that team and I have hung out with them, so for me to say, 'Yeah, we whipped y'alls tail,' it just puts a notch on your belt. It makes things better.''

The Georgia-Georgia Tech series will continue this season, although not at the Cobb Civic Center or on campus.

Instead, the Lady Bulldogs and the Yellow Jackets will square off today at 3 p.m. in the second game of the inaugural ACC/SEC Shootout at Philips Arena in Atlanta. Tennessee and Duke will play in the first game at 12:30. Fox Sports Net will broadcast both games.

''My thinking is that Coach Berenato and I are anxious to play in this format,'' Georgia coach Andy Landers said. ''Afterward we will have a discussion as to whether it will be something we wish to continue.''

Georgia and Georgia Tech played at the Cobb Civic Center the last three seasons. A standing-room-only crowd of 2,932 watched Georgia win 88-82 on Jan. 18, 1999. The six-point victory was the closest margin in the series since a 78-77 Georgia win on Jan. 16, 1980.

Crowds of 2,023 and 1,703 attended the last two meetings, but Gary Stokan, president of the Atlanta Sports Council and president of the Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl, feels the time is right for a top-caliber women's basketball event.

''I think women's basketball is going to continue to grow every year, and the Georgia-Georgia Tech rivalry game is something special,'' Stokan said of the game that will be a part of the festivities surrounding the 34th annual Chick-fil-A Peach Bowl between Auburn and North Carolina at the Georgia Dome on Dec. 31.

Stokan said contracts were signed with Georgia and Georgia Tech for one year, but he said the goal is to keep the schools as the ''staple'' participants of the two-game Shootout and for them to play on an on-going basis. He also said the format could have Georgia and Georgia Tech play an Atlantic Coast Conference or a Southeastern Conference opponent.

''We hope to continue the games for a long, long time,'' Stokan said.

In attempt to make that happen, Stokan said the event has been ''gorilla marketed'' to high schools, corporations, TV stations, newspapers and alumni from each of the participating schools.

''Right now we have about 3,600 tickets sold,'' Stokan said. ''We think there will be a big walk-up from Tennessee and Georgia fans.''

Stokan said the attendance goal for the Shootout is 5,000, which should be an easy number to hit because Tennessee fans usually travel well.

A crowd of that size, though, may not look like a good draw because Philips Arena seats 20,000 for Atlanta Hawks games.

Stokan said there are approximately 10,000 seats in the lower bowl, and he said the goal in the future will be to fill that.

This year, the goal is different.

''We want to show everybody it is a great facility and that we have two great matchups and that it is a first-class experience,'' Stokan said. ''We think it is doable. Next year, we think leading up the Final Four (which will be held at the Georgia Dome) it will be fantastic to get that lower bowl filled with women's basketball fans.''

The fate of Shootout likely will determine if the Georgia-Georgia Tech rivalry will continue. The teams last played on campus in 1989, Agnus Berenato's second season as head coach at Georgia Tech.

Berenato ended the series following the 1989-90 season because she felt it wasn't in the best interests of her program and for attendance reasons.

''You can go back and look at the attendance figures and we had more attendance for ACC games and he (Landers) had bigger attendance for SEC games,'' Berenato said.

The teams played in 1994 and '95 as part of ISES Southern Invitational in Atlanta before opting to play at the Cobb Civic Center in '99.

Landers said he wouldn't be opposed to playing Georgia Tech home and away. In fact, he said the game ''could work well on campus.''

But Berenato, who is in her 14th season, said she doesn't feel Georgia and Georgia Tech need to play each other. Her reasoning stems from the fact that, as she said, ''you don't have a rivalry until people are winning and losing,'' and that she said she is trying to mold her team into one that is consistently in the top 25.

In Berenato's first 13 seasons at Georgia Tech, the Yellow Jackets have finished above .500 six times and have advanced to the postseason four times (NCAA, 1992-93; WNIT, 1991-92, 1999-2000, 2000-2001).

Times may be changing, though. Berenato said the additions of assistant coaches MaChelle Joseph, Jeffrey Williams and Kisha Ford helped the Yellow Jackets land a top-notch recruiting class for next season that features four players -- Kasha Terry, Megan Harpring, Jessica Williams and April Johnson -- from the state of Georgia.

''The change is a lot of these kids, Georgia also recruited them and we got them for the first time,'' Berenato said. ''They made the choice to come to Georgia Tech, and to me their decisions show that they want to help make a difference with Georgia Tech women's basketball. They don't want to go to a program that has already had 12 Final Fours or 16 All-Americans.''

Berenato said this year's recruiting class shows that the Yellow Jackets are ''definitely building the foundation.'' She said if her program can continue to land top recruiting classes in the next couple of years it will take another step.

''We want to be ranked and contending for our conference championship and going to the NCAA tournament every year,'' Berenato said. ''We want to be the best in the nation, and we feel that there is room for three, four or five schools in Georgia to have that stature and be right where Georgia is.''

Georgia Tech's ability to accomplish that goal doesn't mean the series will return to campus sites, even if Berenato said she feels the women's basketball rivalry has the potential to generate a level of excitement comparable to the men's basketball and football games.

But even a neophyte like Thomas, who was recruited by Georgia Tech, recognizes the difficulties the Georgia-Georgia Tech series faces -- no matter where the teams play.

''I think they are scared and they don't want to play here (Stegeman Coliseum),'' Thomas said. ''They get beat pretty bad even when we're not in Athens, so if we were here that is 10 more points.

''I think it would be sweeter if we played them here. I think it is a knock at them that we get more fan support in Atlanta and we still kick their tail in Atlanta.''